Iron Man Isn't Made of Literal Armor
by Keener Girl
Summary: Tony can't sleep, and Steve just wants to help. A fluffy Stony fic!


p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTony had been standing in front of this same door for the past twenty minutes. In his defense, it was a lovely door. It was made of dark wood, smooth and shiny. He really had made a good call with the darker doorknob and the nice textures that you would feel if you run your hand across it. Not that he had glanced his knuckles across the surface, wondering if he should knock or not. That was just cliched and stupid. But now that he thought about it, him standing outside of this door and stalling by studying every inch of it was pretty cliched too. /span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanHe took another breath, running a hand through his hair. He felt oddly naked and vulnerable, even while wearing his comfy pajama pants and AC/DC T-shirt. He didn't /spanemwant /emspansomeone to know about his weaknesses, his fears, and especially not about his anxiety. Just thinking about admitting to his problems made his chest feel tight and breath short./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanBut the shaking in his hands and sleep deprivation was starting to mess with his work. He would nod off while fixing a gauntlet and would drop screwdrivers and wires. And once something got in the way of his work, he had to fix it. That was what he did. He fixed things. But because he had no idea how to fix this (I know, surprising), he needed a sidekick fixer upper. /span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanSuddenly, the door swung open, and Tony took a surprised step back. Steve stood in the doorway with raised brows. There was a hint of confusion in his eyes, along with exasperation. "How much longer are you going to stand outside my door before knocking?" he asked. Tony's heart dropped./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Nice to see you too, Spangles," he tried to snark his way out of the situation./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanIf Steve's eyebrows rose any further they would disappear into his hairline. "It's 3:00 am."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTony shrugged. "I was on my way to the kitchen."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"And you just decided to stand outside my door for twenty minutes?" the blonde countered, and Tony swore he caught a hint of amusement in Steve's eyes before his expression turned serious. "What's wrong?"/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Who said anything was wrong?" Tony asked, and he did kind of earn the flat look he received. "Fine, fine. I… need your help." /span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanNow Steve just looked surprised. "You need my help?"/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"What, I can't ask for help?" now it was Tony's turn to give Steve a look./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"No, actually, you can't. You're Tony Stark, and you constantly insist that you don't need help on a day to day basis," Steve told him, but the surprise was still obvious in his tone. In fact, Tony was sure that he caught a hint of happiness in his eyes./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Well…" Tony finally let his shoulders slump and looked away, avoiding eye contact as he sighed. "I need your help, Steve." Steve watched him for a moment, long enough for Tony to grow uncomfortable and start to squirm subconsciously under his gaze. Just as Tony was about to make an excuse as to why it wasn't important and he would just leave, Steve abruptly stepped to the side and opened the door wider in invitation. After a moment of hesitation, he stepped through the door and followed Steve to the couch at the opposite end of the room./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanAs they sat down, Tony had an odd sense of deja vu. Last time he was in Steve's room, he had been arguing with him over this very couch./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong. . ./strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"So, what's the problem, Cap?" Tony asked as he eased himself back onto the couch's cushions. He was the one who bought this couch and gave Steve his room, so he felt that he could make himself at home. Steve, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable and shifted on his feet./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"It's… well, this room," Steve said, voice strained as he gestured around./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emTony sat up, immediately alert as he glanced around. "What's wrong with it? Wrong color? Bed not soft enough? FRIDAY, take note of what-"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"Tony," Steve interrupted, all too used to the way the mechanic's brain plowed ahead, leaving everyone else behind. "The room is fine. Perfect, really. It's just… the couch."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"The couch?" Tony asked incredulously. "Feels fine to me. Do you not like-"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"No, no, it's a great couch!" Steve rushed to assure Tony, raising his hands in a 'no' motion. "It just seems like too much. This is my bedroom, not the living room."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emTony raised a brow. Why wouldn't Steve want a couch? If you don't want to sit on the bed, and you have no interest in going to the living room where Clint might randomly fall out of the ventilation from the vent above, you could sit on the couch in your room. It seemed like a great deal to Tony. "I don't see the problem."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emSteve frowned in frustration, trying to think of a way to explain his concerns. "We didn't… we didn't have the money for a couch when I was a kid."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emAnd that's when realization hit him. Steve had grown up poor and without advanced technology like this tower. The idea of Tony spending so much money on him and possibly being in debt probably terrified him. Especially because he didn't have a job, as far as Tony knew. "Well, I have the money for 1,000 couches, so you're getting a couch."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"But I can't pay you-"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"I don't want you to pay me back," Tony told him nonchalantly, crossing one of his legs and looking up at the blonde with a raised brow. "I'm a billionaire, Capsicle. Spending money is in my job description."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emSteve snorted and rolled his eyes before turning serious once again, much to Tony's disappointment. Something about making Steve laugh or get that twinkle when his eye when he was amused made Tony's heart leap in his chest. "I'm not a charity case."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emTony sighed and stood up. "Never said you were. You're my friend, and I give my friends things. Now, I gotta go work on some techy stuff, and you gotta finish settling into your room."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"But the couch-"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"Is staying. I don't feel like having to find a new place for it," Tony said flippantly, but he couldn't hide the smirk in his tone./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong. . ./strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"You kept the couch," Tony said conversationally, attempting to seem relaxed. Steve raised a brow, and Tony realized how strange it must seem to bring that up. That was months ago. They had become closer, understood each other more. It was ridiculous to bring up an old argument that Steve didn't find important anymore./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"You didn't offer me much of a choice," Steve replied with a small smile as his eyes swept over Tony's form. The mechanic was suddenly hyper-aware of the way he curled in on himself and how vulnerable he looked. "What's wrong, Tony?" His voice was gentle, concerned, but there was no trace of pity. Tony appreciated that./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"I…" he looked down at his shaking hands, taking a breath. "I can't sleep. I don't… I don't want to sleep."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Why?"/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanA moment of silence. "Nightmares."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Oh." Tony looked up at Steve questioningly, but the blonde's expression was unreadable./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Oh?" he asked quietly. If he wasn't so comfortable with Steve, he would be embarrassed at how small his voice sounded./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"What are they about?" Steve questioned just as quietly./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTony took a moment to just breathe. It wasn't as if he /spanemwanted /emspanto talk about his nightmares and weaknesses. He couldn't think of anyone who would. And he especially didn't want to tell Steve. He wanted the blonde to see him as the strong Iron Man, someone who was worthy to fight by Captain America's side. However, Tony was getting desperate. Rhodes was on the other side of the world for a military mission and would remain there for another two months. And Pepper wasn't involved with him any longer unless she had to yell at him for not coming to a meeting. Steve was his best friend and his only choice. Any of the other Avengers would just be awkward about it./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"It's mostly about New York and that damn portal," he said bitterly as his fingers fiddled with one another in his lap. "A lot about Ultron and what Wanda showed me…" he trailed off and suppressed a shudder. He had told Steve not too long ago about what he had seen when Wanda entered his mind. That had been a long, emotional night. "And a lot about the team being in trouble." /spanemAnd dying, /emspanhe added in his head. But he didn't dare say that aloud./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanSteve was silent for a long moment before saying, "It's okay to have nightmares, Tony." Even though he wanted to be stubborn, wanted to protest and tell Steve that he was /spanemwrong/emspan, hearing that tumble out of Steve's lips made a small weight lift off of Tony's chest. It made the guilt and fear of weaknesses slowly ebb away./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"I'm Iron Man," he managed to argue after a moment because despite how comforting those words were, he wasn't backing down from what he believed. His father raised him to be strong, told him that fear is a sign of weakness. /span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong. . ./strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"Dad?"/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"em"What do you want?" Howard asked sharply, not even bothering to look up./em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emTony sniffled and wiped at his cheeks, shuffling forward on his short, stubby legs. Despite being six years old as of a week ago, he was still smaller than most kids his age. "I… I had a nightmare."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emThat seemed to catch his father's attention. Howard's head snapped around to stare at his on, but instead of the warm, comforting gaze he had been hoping for, he received a look of fiery anger. Tony flinched. "A Stark never cries and never has nightmares. Anyone who does is worthless. Now go back to bed and do what Captain America would do, because he never cried."/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emTony covered his mouth to trap a sob that threatened to come loose and nodded without another word, rushing out of the room. He didn't understand. When he had gone to his friend's house for a sleepover, he'd had a nightmare, and his friend's father had hugged him and spoken gently. Why didn't his father?/em/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"strong. . ./strong/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTony shook his head, snapping himself out of his memory. Now was not the time. He looked up at Steve to see him shaking his head, and Tony wondered for a terrifying second if the super soldier was disappointed in him, if he had realized that Tony was right. "It doesn't matter if you're Iron Man. Iron Man isn't made out of literal iron. He's a person too, Tony."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanThe engineer looked away, unable to find some sort of excuse. He knew that Steve would find something honorable or life-changing to say, something that Tony could quote and put on a poster. It was hard for him to get used to Steve's pep talks at first because they always came at times when Tony just wanted to wallow in his misery and see nothing but the negative side of the situation. Steve, however, always brought whatever mess they were in into a positive light, and it would annoy Tony to no end. He would lash out, throw temper tantrums, and insult Steve until he had stripped him of all of his pride./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanAnd yet he kept being their positive, happy light./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTony learned to love it at some point, which is why the look in Steve's eyes was so heartwarming and safe. "I just want to sleep, Steve," he finally said, changing the subject completely. He sounded so tired./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanSteve pursed his lips, brows drawn into a thoughtful frown. "There is one thing that used to help me with nightmares." Tony had to hide his shock for a moment because of course Steve had nightmares. With or without the serum, he was still human and had gone through things that no one should have to go through./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"span"Go on," he prompted when Steve hesitated. "I'm desperate enough to try anything."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanFor a split second, Tony thought he wouldn't. But Captain America was full of surprises. "I found someone I would trust with my life. They made me feel safe and just… just like I didn't have to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders anymore. So, they agreed to cuddle with me as I slept." The blonde's cheeks reddened when Tony's eyebrows shot up. "I-I know it sounds kinda ridiculous, but it helps. I'm sure Rhodes would do it for you."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTony watched Steve for a moment, watched how his gaze lingered on the carpet and watched the way he shrunk in on himself as the embarrassment churned in his head. Tony smiled, albeit weakly. "That's… not a bad idea, Cap. Problem is, Rhodey is across the world and I need to sleep before I lose my mind."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanSteve glanced up at him, cheeks darkening even more as he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I would be willing to help."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanTime froze. What? Tony wondered if his brain had short-circuited, or if Steve had really just said that. Him? In Steve's bed? In Steve's arms? Sleeping? That sounded… really nice, actually, but also extremely inappropriate for their friendship. Sleeping with Rhodey would have been fine. It wasn't like they hadn't shared a bed before or cuddled. In fact, Tony was perfectly comfortable with doing that with his friend. But Steve? Yeah, he was fine with it, but… it was different./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanHe just didn't want to acknowledge why it was so different./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanBut against all of his better judgment, against every instinct that told him to get the hell out of that room, he nodded slowly. "Yeah… that sounds good."/span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanWhich is how he ended up in bed with Captain America./span/p  
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"spanIt was awkward at first. Steve had gotten into bed first, and Tony followed hesitantly, his limbs feeling stiff and tense. Eventually, he found himself wrapped in Steve's arms, enveloped by warmth and care. It felt… well, it felt amazing. He had never felt so safe in his life. He had wondered if the super-soldier body heat would bother him, but instead, it was comforting. Warm, safe, and content, he finally closed his eyes, burying his face in Steve's chest as he drifted into a peaceful unconsciousness. /span/p 


End file.
